New York Officials Move to Regulate Towers Tied to Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak

August 4, 2015 4:46 PM

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The number of people sickened in an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx climbed to 86 on Tuesday, as city officials outlined legislation that would tighten the regulation of water-cooling towers, which are thought to be the source of the cluster of cases.

It is the largest outbreak of the disease in New York City that health officials are aware of, said Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the health commissioner, speaking at a news conference alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio and other top officials.

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At the news conference on Tuesday, Mr. de Blasio said the city planned to tighten regulation of the towers, but in recent days, community leaders, neighborhood residents and industry experts have faulted the city for failing to have a more rigorous inspection regime in place.

But even as cases have increased across the nation, and experts have called for more safeguards, New York City has done little to address the risks the towers pose as they power air-conditioning systems in many large buildings.

In the South Bronx, Dr. Varma said, officials are confident that they have identified and addressed the likeliest cause of the outbreak but have yet to determine whether it was one or more of the towers. Citing privacy laws, he said the city would not release the names of the dead.

Given its name by at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia, the airborne has sickened thousands of New Yorkers. The city’s first , in 1977, was a 68-year-old Manhattan woman (who recovered), and since then, the disease has struck again and again, in apartment complexes, office buildings and even on a cruise ship. But the disease has typically come in smaller numbers and with only scattered deaths, and that has largely left the government reacting to outbreaks rather than trying to prevent them.

Now, as New York faces the largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the city’s history, Mayor and other officials are trying to marshal a more aggressive approach to the disease and to quell concerns raised by seven Legionnaires’ deaths since July 10, all of them in the South Bronx. At a news conference on Tuesday in the Bronx, the mayor said that the total number of cases had risen to 86 and that more cases were expected to be reported, though the outbreak appeared to be ebbing.

And it can take as little as walking by one of these sources carrying the legionella bacteria and inhaling its contaminated mist to contract the disease, though certain people — older adults, smokers, those with weakened immune systems — are more susceptible.

Precisely how and where the 86 people with Legionnaires’ in the current South Bronx outbreak contracted it remained under investigation by health authorities. But five water cooling towers — a component of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in many modern buildings — have tested positive for legionella in the affected area and are thought to be the source of the outbreak. That finding has highlighted longstanding concerns about the upkeep and oversight of the cooling towers, which provide the damp, warm environment that the bacteria need to thrive and must be cleaned regularly to prevent bacteria from taking root.

But even as cases have increased across the nation, and experts have called for more safeguards, New York City has done little to address the risks the towers pose as they power air-conditioning systems in many large buildings

The number of people sickened in an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx climbed to 86 on Tuesday, as city officials outlined legislation that would tighten the regulation of cooling towers, which are thought to be the source of the cluster of cases.

The city has come under criticism from elected leaders and residents for not already inspecting cooling towers, or even keeping records of which buildings have them. Five such towers, all in the South Bronx, have tested positive for legionella bacteria, which can sicken people who inhale water droplets released from contaminated towers. All five towers have been cleaned.

It is the largest outbreak of the disease in New York City that health officials are aware of, said Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the health commissioner, speaking at a news conference alongside Mayor and other top officials.

Even as the number of cases rose to 86, from , Mr. de Blasio said the pace of the outbreak had slowed. He promised to present legislation by the end of the week to address the loose regulations of cooling towers, the often boxy structures on the roofs of some large buildings that are part of air-conditioning systems.